Why Another Global Economics Blog?

My intent in starting this blog is to look at how macroeconomic policies are set in a complex and interdependent global economy, and how market forces constrain or reinforce those policies.  We will look at policies in both industrial and emerging market economies, though in the current environment we will pay special attention to the policy challenges and key risks to an already fragile outlook coming from Europe and the United States.

I have been fortunate to work in both public and private sectors, and this blog will pay special attention to where those worlds overlap and where perspectives of market and public sector participants differ as to the right policy.  Markets increasingly influence policy, as we have seen recently in the debate over financial support for the European periphery.  Conversely, markets operate in a ‘policy-rich environment’ in which decisions made in capitals will continue to be a significant source of market volatility.

While policy is made at the national level, international fora such as the G-20 played a critical role in the early stage of the crisis in coordinating and communicating the policy response.  As the crisis has receded, however, finding consensus has become more difficult and some have questioned whether they are the right groups for dealing with today’s challenges. This blog will look at the evolving international policy “architecture” and the efforts of countries to coordinate.

Finally, much of my career has focused on crisis resolution and debt restructuring, and I hope that this blog can be a valuable forum for discussion and debate on developments in that area.

I hope that you find this blog interesting, and contribute with comments, criticism and ideas.